27 November 2003 Edition

Election complaints flooding in

Sinn Féin Director of Elections Danny Power said on Wednesday that he had
been receiving a large number of complaints from across the Six Counties
about the volume of people being disenfranchised and at the general manner
in which the election is being conducted.

"From early this morning complaints have been coming into our election
headquarters from constituencies across the Six Counties. These have related
to polling stations not opening on time, voter codes being written onto
ballot papers and elderly people not being allowed assistance from close
relatives to vote.

"More worrying however has been the steady stream of complaints from people
who have applied for voter ID and have not received their cards. This is
having the effect of wholesale disenfranchisement especially when taken with
the massive numbers of people whom the electoral office has already excluded
from the register.

"After this election all aspects of the current legislation will have to be
examined and amended. The performance of the Electoral Office also needs to
be investigated. Confidence in its ability to carry out its most basic
functions is rapidly draining."